Sentinels in the Deep Ocean

by StacyPlays

  A bolt of lightning struck the water in the distance, illuminating a maze of rocks looming in front of them. On second thought . . . maybe I can’t. C-C-C-R-A-C-K. The boat rammed into one of the rocks. Stacy, Everest, and Atlas all slid across the deck, nearly falling overboard altogether. They managed to get up and back to their positions, only to hit another rock head on. Ribsy and Paisley were barking down in the cabin. Stacy glanced over the side of the boat to see they had begun kicking water out of the boat’s broken porthole. We’re taking on water. We’re going to sink. What was I thinking trying to sail a boat in the first place? I’m not strong enough to help Atlas.

  Suddenly, lightning struck the boat’s mast, splitting it in half. Atlas commanded a gust of wind to keep the mast from falling directly onto them while Everest grabbed Stacy by her raincoat and pulled her overboard. Stacy looked below her to see Paisley and Ribsy jumping out of the boat’s porthole as she and Everest plunged into the cold water alongside them. The boat was heading directly toward more rocks; there was nothing they could do to save it.

  Stacy held on as Everest pulled her deeper and deeper underwater, away from the storm’s turbulent waves on the surface. Stacy knew this was wise, to avoid the crashing waves and their out-of-control boat, but she also knew that she needed to come up for air soon. I can’t hold my breath as long as you, Everest. What are you doing? Stacy looked to her right to see Atlas was swimming beside her and Everest. Together they were guiding Stacy over to where the water was much calmer. Stacy tried to kick away from them to paddle up for a breath, but she was sandwiched between the two wolves. I’m going to drown! Stacy held her breath for as long as she could, about a minute, and then started frantically puffing her cheeks out and in. Everything had happened so fast in the chaos of the storm; Stacy didn’t know what was going on. She was losing consciousness. Everest must have forgotten I can’t hold my breath as long as him. . . . Stacy couldn’t last another second. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth to accept her watery fate. Stacy expected salt water to enter her mouth, filling her throat and burning its way into her lungs. But instead, her mouth was filled with a gulp of sweet ocean air. What . . . is . . . happening? Stacy looked over at Atlas. He was swimming incredibly close to her. I can . . . I can breathe? Underwater? Atlas can keep air . . . around him? Stacy couldn’t fully appreciate this new development in Atlas’s powers. In her mind, she was still back on the deck of the boat, trying desperately to steer around rocks. Her brain could not keep up with her body and the fact that she was now hurtling through the turbulent ocean waters. Stacy, Everest, and Atlas surfaced, and through the rain, Stacy could see land up ahead. A wave, at least twenty feet tall, crashed over them, knocking Stacy away from Everest and Atlas. Stacy was pushed under the water and felt a sharp pain in her leg and then a tug on the hood of her raincoat. She looked around to see Pearl, pulling her toward the shore.

  Stacy stumbled onto the shore and collapsed on the soft sand. She turned onto her back, gasping for air, and saw that the dark rain clouds were beginning to break, giving way to a vibrant blue sky. The storm was over. Stacy sat up and looked down the beach. Pearl and Noah were with her. In the distance, she could see a ragged-looking Everest and Atlas and then, even farther down the beach, Ribsy and a bedraggled Paisley walking toward them. Stacy tried to stand, but her left knee buckled under her and she fell again to the sand. She looked down to see bright red blood running down her leg from a long gash right below her knee. Ribsy raced the last hundred yards or so over to her and knelt beside her. Stacy felt a strange sensation in her leg—the gash was closing! In a matter of seconds, the gash was healed, and the last few drops of blood trickled down Stacy’s legs.

  “Thank you, Ribsy,” Stacy whispered. She knew how lucky she was to have found Ribsy and the other mesa wolves. That gash could have easily become infected. The infection could have killed me.

  Stacy stood up and surveyed her surroundings. The island they had washed up on was . . . peculiar. It was covered in palm trees and tall, jagged mountains. Stacy felt a chill as a cool breeze blew through her wet hair.

  “Breeze Island,” she said aloud. “That’s what we should call this place. But I don’t think we should stay here too long.”

  Stacy looked at Everest and he nodded. It’s too windy on this island to camp here. It would be a constant struggle for Atlas to manage. And . . . I have a bad feeling about this place. I can’t explain it. It’s like . . . like people have died here.

  Stacy and the wolves climbed to the top of one of the mountains and, much to Stacy’s delight, saw that Breeze Island was the largest in a small cluster of islands. To the south and east were two smaller islands, forming a trio. Hopefully one of those will be more suitable for building a camp.

  The group quickly descended the mountain and swam over to the island to the east. Immediately, Stacy noticed this island wasn’t as cold and windy. It wasn’t mountainous either. It was flat and beautiful, with pristine white beaches and turquoise water. Stacy was just about to suggest they live here when she noticed something on the beach. A dozen or so tiny black dots were moving quickly across the sand. Stacy strode over to them and saw that they weren’t black dots at all, but rather, baby sea turtles! Their shells were black, their heads were spotted—they were each only a couple inches long. They must have just hatched! Stacy watched the tiny turtles as they wriggled toward the water. Stacy noticed one of the turtles was lagging behind the others on the beach. He had a tiny bit of shell on his head, covering his eyes.

  Stacy bent down and carefully peeled the bit of shell from the turtle’s face. She yearned to pick the baby turtle up and help it down the beach to the ocean, but she knew that his struggle to the water was an essential part of his journey. He needed to fight his way down there to be strong enough to be able to swim. She also knew he was imprinting on his home beach, and that he would return here many times over the course of his long life. So instead, Stacy just crouched low to the ground and watched him in wonder as he determinedly shuffled through the white sand. Atlas kept the hungry gulls away, summoning a gust of wind anytime one of the birds swooped down too close.

  I’m going to call you Hatch, Stacy thought.

  “Well . . . I guess we can’t live here either,” Stacy said. “This is Hatch’s Island.”

  She stood up and watched as Hatch made his way to the ocean.

  “Good luck, little guy.”

  Stacy turned back to the group. With Breeze Island and Hatch’s Island out of the running, there was only one island left. We can’t sail to any other islands . . . our boat is completely wrecked. I hope this next island is okay.

  Once more, Stacy dove into the ocean to swim to the next island. Noah swam beneath her, ready to lift Stacy up to the surface if she needed it. Everest was a good swimmer, but his massive frame kept him from being all that agile in the water. Paisley and Ribsy were the slowest. They’ll improve, though. It’s not like they had a lot of opportunities to hone their swimming skills living in the dry mesa. With Atlas and Pearl next to her, Stacy felt like she was one of the dolphins. She could stay underwater for as long as she wanted. Paisley had managed to save Stacy’s satchel from the ship and, with it, the goggles she had tried to use with Molly. Stacy couldn’t wait until they were settled on one of the islands and could go out for a proper swim where she could explore the ocean floor, collect shells, and get a closer look at the tropical fish who were all around her. But right now, she was determined to find a good home for the mesa pack. Stacy got lost in her thoughts as they swam. Will they want to stay on this island? Will Paisley be able to grow enough food for them? Will they miss the diet they had back in the mesa? And how long will Everest, Noah, and I stay here to get them settled?

  Stacy and the others made their way onto the third island. It was the smallest of the three, but Stacy liked it almost instantly because it had a small inlet that came into the center of the island. Pearl could use that to shelter for the night. She likes to spend more time i
n the water than out, after all. Next to the inlet were two palm trees that had grown crookedly, forming an X shape. Stacy thought it could be a good place to build a shelter. As Stacy and the group walked from the center of the island to the opposite side from where they’d started, Paisley paid particularly close attention to the ground. Stacy imagined she was plotting out where to put a small garden and looking for a suitable patch of dirt in the center of the island where things could grow.

  They reached the other side of the island quickly. To the west, Stacy could see the rocks the boat had crashed on. They walked on the beach to the island’s southern tip, and Stacy’s heart sank.

  “Oh no . . .” she groaned. “What happened here?”

  Sixteen

  STACY LOOKED OUT over the beach at the dead mangrove trees. Their black and twisted roots were sticking out of the sand so far that the wolves could walk underneath them. Clumps of garbage had washed up on the shore and were strewn around the beach, along with the skeletons of several birds. Stacy looked beyond them into the water. Oh no. The coral reef near the shore looked to be dead as well. What awful thing happened here? Pearl and Noah swam out into the coral reef. Stacy followed after them. The coral was various shades of grays, browns, and white—not the vibrant colors Stacy knew it would be if it was healthy. This beach is dying . . . but why? Stacy had never seen coral before, but she knew that it was a living thing. And that it was a vital part of the ocean’s ecosystem. Fish, turtles, dolphins, squid . . . they all relied on the coral—some ate the coral itself, and others ate the fish who fed on it. Stacy looked again at the dying coral before swimming back to shore. We may have finally come across a rescue we cannot do. . . .

  Stacy, Pearl, and Noah rejoined the others on the island. Despite the dying beach, it seemed to Stacy that this island was the best spot for them to make a camp. Breeze Island was, well . . . too breezy. And besides that, it was the largest of the three islands and that meant that passing ships might be inclined to stop there and explore. That was the island we crashed into, after all. We don’t want that happening to someone else, and then they stumble onto a pack of magical wolves. As for Hatch’s Island, Stacy didn’t want to do anything to disrupt the ecosystem there. That island is the home beach of those turtles. I don’t want them to return there to mate and get scared off by wolves. This is our little island. We should live here. As Stacy was thinking, she noticed Paisley was standing near one of the dead mangrove trees, concentrating really hard on something. Stacy walked over to her and saw a small sprig of new growth on one of the mangrove’s branches.

  “Did you do that, Paisley?” Stacy asked, surprised. Paisley wagged her tail. “Well, that settles it then. We’ll live here and Paisley and the rest of us can work on restoring the beach!”

  The group walked back to the small lagoon in the center of the island and began to construct a shelter using the crossed palm trees. Stacy couldn’t have been more pleased with her decision. She knew that if Paisley was able to regrow the mangrove trees, the greenery would provide excellent cover for the mesa pack from any explorers or passing boats. They won’t even be able to see the middle of the island! She also knew the mangroves would protect against hurricanes and that their root systems would help stabilize the beach and restore the island. It won’t help the coral reef, but it’s a start.

  Everest, Noah, and Atlas returned to the wreckage of their ship near Breeze Island and brought back with them some hardwood planks, rope, and what was left of the shredded sail. While they were gone, Paisley and Stacy worked to weave palm fronds together that Ribsy collected from around the island. Next, Stacy and Everest used the hardwood planks to create a crude treehouse where the two palm trees’ trunks crossed. They laid the planks to form a platform about six or seven feet off the ground and then positioned the woven palm fronds on one side of the platform to make a lean-to. Stacy used the box of nails from the boat and a rock from the beach to hammer pieces of driftwood up the base of one of the palm trees, so she’d be able to climb up to the platform and down quickly.

  Stacy looked up at the setting sun. She was tired from working so hard, but it felt good to have accomplished so much during their first day on the island. She walked over to the small lagoon near their campsite to wash up for dinner. Stacy had just stuck her hands into the water when she noticed a small fish swimming near her fingers. It was yellow and had large, wide eyes on either side of its small body. Its tiny mouth was turned up at the sides—making it look as if the fish was smiling.

  “Aren’t you cute?” Stacy said, extending her fingers to see if she could touch the fish in the water. Suddenly, the fish tripled in size.

  “Ouch, ouch, ouch!” Stacy exclaimed.

  The pufferfish had puffed out its spines in self-defense. Stacy yanked her hand out of the water and checked to see if the pufferfish poke had pierced her skin. Pufferfish are poisonous, but luckily, Stacy’s skin hadn’t been broken. Phew! Not sure if Ribsy would have been able to heal me from that.

  Stacy turned away from the pufferfish, who she lovingly nicknamed Ouch, and looked back at the makeshift home she had built for the mesa pack. Atlas had jumped all the way to the top of the tallest of the two palms and was harvesting its coconuts. Everest was sitting on the plank platform they’d constructed, keeping an ever-watchful eye on what Stacy was doing. And Paisley was slung in the hammock Stacy had fashioned from the boat’s ripped sail, napping peacefully—a tropical flower tucked behind one of her ears.

  It was dusk now. Stacy reached into her satchel and pulled out the flint and steel Basil had given to her back in the taiga and used it to start a fire with kindling Ribsy had gathered earlier in the day. Noah had spent the rest of the afternoon fishing around the island. From the looks of his catch, he had taken care not to kill the same variety of fish twice. That’s good. We don’t want to decimate any of the fish population while we’re here. Still, Stacy didn’t like the idea of him fishing around the dying coral reef. We should be looking for ways to increase life in the ocean here, not take life. But she also knew that Paisley needed time to grow food on the island. Okay, we’ll have a good meal tonight, and that should last the wolves for a while. As for Stacy, she was loving all the new foods she’d been nibbling on that were growing naturally around the island. Coconut and coconut milk, bananas, and sugar apples—Stacy couldn’t get enough of the sweet fruit.

  After everyone ate dinner, Paisley returned to her cozy spot in the hammock while Pearl and Noah fell asleep near the lagoon. Ribsy set off to patrol the island for the night, while Everest turned around a couple times underneath the treehouse before plopping down on the sand. Stacy climbed up into the treehouse to sleep. It had been such a long day—from crashing their boat on the rocks, to exploring the three islands and building the treehouse. Stacy was already drifting off to sleep when Atlas jumped up and curled his soft body protectively around her.

  Stacy woke up to the sweet smell of rice cooking in coconut milk with mango. Wow, Paisley grew that already? Stacy peered over the edge of the treehouse and watched Paisley as she toiled over the fire. Pearl and Noah were splashing around in the lagoon. Everest was now by Stacy’s side, dozing.

  “Wake up, Everest!” Stacy said, gently nudging the giant wolf. “Paisley’s made breakfast!”

  Despite eating a big meal the night before, Stacy was ravenous. As she tucked into the mango and rice, she couldn’t help but think about Page, Molly, her cats, and the other wolves and wishing they were all here with her on the island. Addison would get along so well with Paisley. She would love getting to create new dishes with the food Paisley can grow. And Milquetoast and Pipsqueak would be in heaven with all the varieties of tropical fish they’d be eating here. Tucker and Ribsy would probably get along too—their powers are so similar. Stacy was so lost in thought and savoring the deliciousness of her breakfast that it took her a long time to recognize Milo the bat fluttering in the air in front of her.

  “Milo!”

  Stacy was ecstatic to
see the little brown bat. Partly because she had come to love the adorable creature, but mostly because she knew his presence here meant that Wink and Basil had returned to the taiga safely with Page and Molly. I can’t believe you flew so far! Stacy had assumed Milo would hand off his message to other bats who could locate Stacy, but she realized that he must have deemed this information too important to not deliver himself. Stacy was so relieved they were okay.

  “Welcome to our little island, Milo,” Stacy said, putting a few morsels of mango on a nearby piece of driftwood for Milo to munch on. “You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you’d like.”

  After eating her fill of mango and coconut rice, Stacy walked with Milo and Everest to the beach at the north side of the little island. Ribsy, Noah, and Atlas were standing near the water where Pearl was swimming, everyone looking slightly distressed. Oh no. What’s the matter now? Is everyone feeling okay? Everest ran to the pack and then turned to Stacy and scrawled a set of runes in the sand. Stacy was surprised he’d learned the language already (and that she could read it)—apparently she’d translated enough of the diary that she was becoming fluent.

  “R-E-S-C-U-E,” Stacy said with a gasp, suddenly realizing why everyone looked so anxious. “Oh my . . . we have our first ocean rescue!”

  Seventeen

  STACY IMMEDIATELY NOTICED the look of concern in Everest’s silver eyes. And she knew exactly what he was thinking. I haven’t proven to him that I can do a rescue in the ocean. My first attempt to rescue an animal in the ocean ended up being just a floating pile of trash and then Noah and Pearl had to rescue me. And then there was the boat crash . . . that didn’t exactly end well either. Stacy stared into Everest’s eyes. Please let me do this. Noah and Pearl will be with me the entire time. And Atlas too! They’ll keep me safe. Stacy expected the alpha wolf to shake his head no. After all, this would be the first rescue where he wouldn’t be able to be there in case Stacy needed saving. He would have to put all his trust in Noah and two mesa wolves he’d known for less than a week. Remember, you’ll be able to hear my thoughts the entire time. It will be like you’re there with me. Everest looked down at the sand, mulling over his decision. Finally, he looked up, exchanged a glance with Atlas, and then turned back to Stacy and gave a short nod. Yes! Stacy rushed over to embrace him. I promise I’ll be careful, boy. I promise.